The Tormented
by Adrasteia Wen
Summary: (InuKag)When something happens at school, Kagome must explain to the rest of the gang how her shoulder was got wounded and what a gun is. Who knew that the future was so dangerous? (changed rating and genre for a future chapter)


**A/N:Hi everyone! Thanks for showing some interest. If the summary on the outside got cut off, thenI'll tell you that this is a one-shot, which explains why it's kinda long. Anyway, hope you like.**

**Disclaimer: I own the laptop this was typed on... (but still no InuYasha)**

The Tormented

Kagome sat still in her desk, staring at the weapon in amazement. Who would have thought…?

Oh, who was she trying to kid? It's not like this had never happened before in the world. What got her was the fact that it was happening here.

She knew that Kodoku was bullied sometimes, but with her trips to the Sengoku Jidai, and her need to pass those tests that she had to make up, she never really took any notice to everything that was happening. When did it escalade to this? Was he really pushed into this desperate situation for his own freedom?

Everyone was hiding under the desks, hands above their heads in a feeble attempt at protection. Shinrai-sensei was on her knees, the gun pointed at her forehead. She was trembling, terror coursing through her body. This was her reward for trying to talk him out of anything dangerous. The poor woman, it was her first year too.

"Higurashi," hissed a voice under the desk to her right. She turned her eyes over to Hojou, not daring to move her head. Noticing that he got her attention he continued, "Get down, protect yourself." At that mention, something inside Kagome seemed to snap.

She looked into her sensei's eyes, and she realized that it's not herself that needed to be protected, nor was it the sensei or the rest of the students, it, in all truth, was Kodoku. "No," she whispered, more to herself. Her voice rose to a higher volume. "No," Kagome repeated, in a calm, non-threatening tone. She looked up to Kodoku, watched as the gun made it's way to her direction.

"No what?" he asked, his speech trembling and weak. Slowly, Kagome stood from her seat.

"I'm not going to get down and hide. It's futile and pointless," she answered, her voice holding steady throughout it. Shaking her head a little, Kagome slowly took a step forward, trying to keep her nerves at bay. "Tell me, Kodoku-kun, why are you doing this?"

Kodoku gave a harsh laugh. "You mean to tell me that you weren't there to see it all?" he questioned sarcastically. Kagome noticed how the gun seemed to steady more in his trembling hands, still pointed at her. "You mean to tell me that you haven't seen my backpack get opened in the middle of the hall, letting all my books fall out, or the stupid names that I get called, or getting shoved into a locker? You mean to tell me that you have never seen the _hell _I've had to endure because of some of the students in this room find it _funny_?" Kodoku began to yell, shouting out his pain.

Kagome looked into his eyes. "I've been…sick a lot, Kodoku-kun. If it's not my health then it's the make-up work. I don't have enough time for my own life, and sadly, that means that I have no time for other people," she explained smoothly. "I am sorry that you had to go through that. What's worse is that no one bothered to help you. You're right, you know, it's not fair that it happens to you…but this isn't the way to deal with it." Kagome remained a semblance of calm, hoping to sooth him down to a rational level, even though her nerves were out of control with a gun pointed at her.

"What makes you think that this isn't right!?" the troubled young man roared, fear seeping into the anger as his hand began to shake again.

Kagome worked forcibly to control her breathing. "I know that you're smart, Kodoku-kun. I know you know of other ways to deal with something like this. Tell me, how do you feel right now?" She was careful to leave her questions open-ended; pressing a wounded animal further into a corner is never smart.

Kodoku's eyes were starting to tear. "I feel…desperate, and hurt. Most of all, I feel betrayed. I thought that this school was about unity and strength in numbers. No one bothered to help me, where was unity then? _I was trapped in a locker for over an hour until the janitor let me out!_"

"That's terrible," Kagome sympathized. "But tell me this, how do you think these people feel right now?"

"Fear, just like I have felt for way too long," Kodoku mumbled, lowering the gun some down to the floor, a realization dawning on his face. "I can't believe it, I've become what I hate, what I'm trying to get revenge on." His body went loose at his realization. "By Kami-sama, what have I done?"

Kagome took another step forward. "You did good, Kodoku-kun. You've stopped something that could have been unforgivable. I'm proud of you," she consoled, failing to discern the two male classmates creeping up behind the crest-fallen boy. "Please, prove to them," she gestured to the students, "just how good of a person you are," Kagome pleaded.

"But…but…"

Before Kodoku could give a full reply, or put down the weapon he carried, the two students jumped on him, trying to remove the gun from his grasp. The jump made him instinctively fling out his arms and clench his hands into a fist, thus pulling the trigger. The report from the pistol shrilled in everyone's ears.

Kagome fell onto her knees, shocked at the overwhelming pain coming from her right shoulder. She could hear cries of her name but they all seemed fuzzed and distant. She looked to the source of her pain and saw her crimson blood flowing from a hole in her uniform, tainting the once pure white material. Looking back up, she saw many blurred and misted faces surrounding her. She was still in shock. Everything had been going so well…

And then she realized it; she had been shot, really, truly shot. Eyes widening, she screamed, for all she was worth she howled out her torture. She fisted her left hand and placed it to her mouth, biting the knuckle bloody in attempt to stifle her cries. _'Oh Kami-sama, make it end, MAKE IT END!'_ Kagome pleaded to the deities.

"Higurashi, come on, please stay with us," Hojou begged from above her, not even daring to touch her in fear of injuring her more. Sadly, his requests were falling on deaf ears.

Kagome was hallucinating, she knew she was, this was too weird. InuYasha's face appeared from nowhere, floating and strangely transparent. She couldn't believe it. Was she truly so despondent to see her protector, her love, that her imagination created it for her as one final wish? Still, even though she could see the desks behind it, his face was the only clear thing in the room to her.

"InuYasha," she whispered, tears falling from her eyes, "I l-lo-v-ve y-you." Kagome fell to her side as her world dissolved into darkness…

§

Kagome opened her eyes, saw the blinding light above her, and immediately closed them again. "Am I dead?" she asked herself, taking notice of her hoarse voice. A soft chuckling registered in her mind.

"I certainly hope not, I have a reputation to uphold." Kagome squinted against the light, turning her head to a somewhat young man, 30 at most, who was looking back and forth between some papers on a clipboard and herself. His blonde hair was cut short and his eyes were framed with glasses. Noting her confused expression, he chuckled lightly and took a seat in the chair beside her bed. "You're in the hospital, Kagome. You were shot in the right shoulder at school. Do you remember any of this?" The miko nodded slowly, trying to get used to the thin plastic tube around her head and the two small ones branching off of it barely in her nose that kept on feeding her some oxygen. "Well, you passed out, because of blood loss, and the ambulance rushed you here where I took you into surgery and removed," the doctor pulled out a plastic bag, "this." Inside the clear pouch was a bullet, about a centimeter and a half tall, silvery in color. "You're allowed to keep it. The police don't need it, since they already know who the shooter is," he paused for a second, looking sadly at the tiny object. "I say you pierce it with a small hole, string it, and wear it around to remind everyone what could happen when someone gets pushed too far over something stupid," he advised, handing it over to her. She reached out her left hand to grasp it.

"Where is Kodoku? Is he okay?" she asked, staring at the bullet, seeing that it had been cleaned of all the blood. The doctor smiled.

"He was right, you really are a caring person," he whispered, closing his eyes in reflection. "The young boy said that you actually seemed to care, regretted terribly that you were shot."

"Where is he?"

"He's at the clinic, getting group therapy. Don't worry, he'll be fine." Kagome nodded.

"I'm glad," she murmured, rolling the bullet between her thumb and forefinger through the plastic. Kagome decided to look around the room and was astounded by the splendorous colors of the get-well cranes and the flowers that were randomly placed around the white walls of the room. "What are all of these for?"

"They're for you, Kagome," the doctor replied. "A lot of people like you. I wish I were that popular in school. Those," he pointed to a large bouquet of white roses, "are from Kodoku. The candles," he adjusted his hand to the said items, "are from a Mr. Hojou. Don't know why though, we can't allow you to light them here…"

Kagome shook her head slightly. "He keeps on giving me gifts for my health. I'm pretty sure he thinks that I'm a walking disease," she divulge, yawning rather loudly.

"Get some sleep, Kagome," the doctor advised. "You'll be very uncomfortable when the pain-killers wear off."

Kagome snorted. "Well, that's uplifting."

§

She lay in her bed at home, knowing for a fact that she was due for her pain medicine. The horrid prickling sensations were traveling from her actual wound to all the area surrounding it, moving down her arm and on top of her lung, making it difficult to breathe properly. "Okaa-san!" Kagome tried to call, but her voice was utterly failing her. "Okaa-san, please," she begged. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

When her door opened, she was left slightly disappointed to see Souta. "Go get Okaa-san," she ordered, clenching her teeth, forgetting about manners. Souta nodded and ran down the stairs, calling for his mother.

This time, when the door opened, Kagome sighed in relief as her mother walked in with a glass of water and one rather large tablet. "Gomen, sweetie, I lost track of the time," the older woman apologized. After making sure that the medication was working properly, she asked, "Is there anything that you need, dear?"

"I need to go to the bathroom," Kagome stated, trying to get out of the bed. Mrs. Higurashi helped her up and out into the bathroom, leaving her the privacy to do her business, and coming back in to escort her back to her room. However, when Kagome made it to the threshold of her room, a wave of dizziness befell upon her.

Dropping to her knees, Kagome cried out as it jarred her shoulder. Her mother acted quickly, helping her up and almost dragging her to the bed. "Do you need the bucket?"

Kagome closed her eyes, but upon discovering that this made the feelings worse, she opened them again, focusing on the ceiling. "No, Okaa-san. Just give me a few minutes…" Her voice trailed off as she fell asleep.

§

Kagome woke up again by the means of a shake on her shoulder. "InuYasha…" she mumbled, speaking out the name of the person she was dreaming about before.

"No," an obviously female voice said above her. Kagome squinted her eyes open.

"Okaa-san?" she inquired taking in the short brown, definitely not silver, hair, and warm brown (not golden amber) eyes.

"Hai. Are you up to seeing a visitor?" her mother asked, brushing her raven hair gently.

"Depends, who is it?"

"Hojou-kun," Mrs. Higurashi answered simply. "He wanted to ask you a question, it seems. The visit shouldn't be long." Kagome nodded.

"Hai, I'll see him."

A few minutes later, the sandy haired young man walked into the room. Pulling up the chair from the desk, he sat down and looked Kagome in the eyes. He seemed kind of…somber. "How do you feel, Higurashi?" It was such a typical greeting.

"Not as bad as I could be, I guess," Kagome answered, pulling something out from underneath her pillow. "I still find it hard to believe," she added, looking at the bullet through the same plastic baggie that the doctor gave her. "My doctor said to punch a hole in this and wear it as a necklace. A small reminder of things that can happen." Hojou nodded his approval, twiddling his thumbs a bit. "I was told that you had a question for me?" He nodded again.

"Who's InuYasha?" Hojou asked, trepidation spilling forth from his voice. Kagome went rigid, her eyes widening.

"H-How do you know about…"

"You called out his name before you passed out," he answered. Kagome remembered it well; she thought that her mind was giving her a last wish. She also said…oh Kami-sama… "You told him you…loved…him," Hojou gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Kagome looked into Hojou's eyes, a strange emotion mixing in her own. "I remember," she responded, not really sure as to what to say to that. Thankfully, Hojou began to talk again.

"Did you…did you mean it?" he questioned, braking away from the glance of the wounded girl.

"Yes," she replied immediately, "I'm in love with InuYasha." It felt so good to say that out loud.

"Oh," Hojou muttered, slightly upset. "Is he in love with you?" Kagome looked down to her lap, smiling sadly.

"It's complicated, Hojou-kun. I think that he might, but he's being held back." She took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes. "A while ago, he had a girlfriend…it ended badly. Then I came in, and he was a jerk, heck he's still can be a jerk, but he grew to trust me, the only person to do that. We have a strong friendship, and it was probably going to be so much more, until the girlfriend came back. She wants to take InuYasha away, and every time he goes to see her, I fear that I'll never see him again." Hojou nodded.

"Does he keep you safe?" Kagome smiled, happiness shining in her eyes.

"With his very life. If he were there in class that day, he would have taken this bullet for me," she affirmed, holding up the shiny object again.

"Where is he now? Has he visited you yet?" Hojou seemed truly curious now that the melancholy was removed from his voice.

"Again, it's complicated. He lives…_very_ far away. In fact, that's why I'm almost never in school. I'm positive that he came here, but I don't think that he knew that I was in the hospital." This was true, when she came home; there were slightly dirty footprints on her floor, the key signature that the hanyou had been there. It made her feel a bit better that he was at least slightly concerned.

Hojou stood up, and headed to the door. "Arigotou, Higurashi, for being honest with me." He paused by the doorway. "By the way, do you think that your friend, Ayumi, might want to go to the movies on Friday?"

§

'_That was a good idea my doctor had,'_ thought Kagome as she stood before the mirror, admiring her bullet necklace. She was going back to the Sengoku Jidai after nine days gone, even though she was really in no condition to be out of bed. Kagome just needed to get out of the house, and see her friends again. Her mother made her promise not to go too far from the village and she was willing to keep to it. Her shoulder was still painful to move, thus making her arm fairly useless, as well as her bow and arrows.

Kagome looked at her reflection and noticed how much paler she looked from the loss of blood, though she was looking a slight bit healthier now that she had a week to recover. Her eyes were also underlined with dark circles, making her appear more haunting and ailing. She wasn't in her usual school uniform, but a pair of comfortable, baby blue, fleece pants and a dark green hoodie with the Kanji for 'Protect' in a lighter green. The blood loss made her lose her body heat rather easily. Her right arm was resting in a navy sling to keep it from moving too much, while her left was holding onto a much-lighter-than-usual yellow backpack.

Walking slowly down the stairs, Kagome slipped on her sneakers, said her goodbyes, and headed for the well house. Jumping into the dry structure, she marveled at the energy that surrounded her, the glow that engulfed her, and the light grounding of her feet when she reached the far away era…

How was she going to get out of this well?

"Kagome!" the gruff voice of InuYasha yelled from above her. "Damn it, wench, what the fuck took you so long? I told you three days!"

'_Thank you, Impatience.'_

"Now, now, InuYasha," she heard Miroku try to placate, "Kagome-sama must have a good reason for being late. She's usually on time." Kagome instinctively placed her left hand on her bandaged wound covered in the cloth of her pullover. Apparently, the shadows in the well were blocking everyone's view of her sling. "Is that correct, Kagome-sama?" the houshi asked.

Kagome didn't answer; she never even looked up. _'How will they react?' _All the excitement of seeing her friends again evaporated when she realized all that could happen. Only the blind would be able to overlook something like _that_.

"Kagome-chan?" Sango questioned above her. Still, she gave no response. "Kagome-chan, are you all right?" Kagome could hear the concern in her voice, it made her eyes glaze over with tears.

"Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked. "Kagome-sama, can you not hear us?"

"Kagome, get your ass out of that fucking well," InuYasha brazenly demanded, but even then, Kagome could still make out the slight intonations of a mild panic (which is not to be taken lightly from someone like InuYasha). Kagome dropped her head further, wondering how to go back to her time without getting out of the well to jump in again. A light scraping sound and a soft landing interrupted her planning.

Shippou climbed over the side of the well and plopped down in front of Kagome. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Kagome-okaa-san," he proclaimed, looking at her face, taking in the dark circles, "what happened to you?" Shippou was astounded, taking in the sling. "Why are you injured?"

"INJURED?" InuYasha thundered, reaching out a clawed hand and grabbed onto her left wrist, easily pulling her and the bag out of the well. Kagome still didn't look up, even though her sling was in clear view now that the shadows were gone. "Did you break your arm or something?" Kagome couldn't help but hear the change from enraged to concerned; it was probably the only thing that actually motivated her to talk.

"Or something," she answered, her head still hung down. That soon changed as the inu hanyou lifted his finger under her chin and brought her face to look into his. A mix of emotions swirled in his eyes, one of which was alarm. "Can I sit down, InuYasha?" she interjected before he could say anything about her appearance. "I'm feeling dizzy again."

InuYasha worried his brow at the mention of 'again'. "Sure, sure, you can sit down, or do you want me to take you to Keade's hut?" he asked, supporting her as she began to teeter. It was strange for InuYasha to let his emotions out so open, but, he always acted different when it came to Kagome and her well-being.

"Let's go to Keade-obaa-chan's house," Kagome chose, leaning in to InuYasha. "I promise to explain," she whispered, making sure everyone could hear her, "but _please_ don't make me stand for any longer."

InuYasha picked her up bridal style, careful not to jostle her right arm too much, and began to run to the matriarch's hut. Kagome was extremely grateful for the fact that InuYasha could move with enough grace that she wasn't being manhandled with his leaps. Looking behind her, Kagome noticed that Shippou, Sango, and Miroku were riding Kirara back to the village.

Without even bothering to knock, InuYasha walked through the doorway and put Kagome onto one of the mats. Kagome smiled slightly at him in thanks and tried to think about what caused this dizzy spell, but, like she has been doing a lot lately, she fell asleep, easily exhausted by the short but emotionally straining event.

§

Kagome awoke in a fitful pain, the usual pinpricks becoming more and more like knives with each passing breath, which were becoming more and more difficult to take. She opened her eyes, noticing through the tears that her companions were already asleep and that it was very dark outside. _'I should have taken my pain killers and changed my bandages hours ago!'_ she thought in alarm.

"Kagome," someone called from her feet. She turned and saw two amber orbs glowing in the embers of the fire. All Kagome could do in response was whimper and let the tears fall. "Kagome!" He rushed to her side, trying to find out what was wrong with her.

"My…bag," she managed to force out. InuYasha understood, grabbed the yellow backpack and set it next to Kagome. Digging through it, the young miko found the transparent orange container holding her salvation inside. Using her teeth to open it, Kagome removed one of the large pills, place it in her mouth, dug in her bag for her water bottle, and chugged some, swallowing the medication as well.

Kagome lay back down, letting everything return to a homeostatic condition, closing her eyes. Upon opening them again, she noticed that everyone seemed to be awake now, sitting up, and watching her with apprehension. "I'm not dying, you know," she assured, trying to get herself in a position to rest against the wall of the hut.

"Then tell us what _is_ happening," InuYasha sort of asked, assisting her, gently propping her against the inside of the structure. He heard her sigh in contentment. "What the hell happened to your arm?"

"Well," Kagome paused grateful for the fast action of the painkillers, "it's…a long story."

"We have time, Kagome-sama," Miroku said, looking out the small window. "It's not like we're going anywhere at this time of night."

Kagome sighed, closing her eyes and going over the details of what had happened during school, excluding the part of the hallucination of InuYasha's head and her little confession. When she finished, she still didn't open her eyes, but instead continued by saying, "I was so close. He was going to put down the gun if I only had a clear chance, one without that little interruption. No one would have gotten hurt…"

When Kagome opened her eyes to see why nobody was talking, she was almost amazed by what she saw. Sango held her hand to her mouth, forcing away any possible tears from escaping. Miroku looked…disturbed, to say the least. Shippou was clinging to Kirara, using her as a substitute for Kagome. And InuYasha, well, she couldn't read his emotions through his eyes, his hair hid them, but she could see his unsettled frown.

"What exactly," Miroku said as he stared in the fire, "does this 'bullet' do to a person?" He lifted his gaze from the fire to her eyes.

"Think of it as a compact miko arrow, only it doesn't have to be wielded by anyone with special powers. They have, more or less, similar results, just by different means. It can kill instantly, it can shatter bones, the only real difference is that the gun is powered by creating a spark," she tried to explain. Kagome hovered her hand over the healing wound. "That reminds me. Keade," the old woman looked up, "can you help me? I was supposed to change my bandages a while ago."

"Of course, child," Keade replied. "Do you need any of my supplies?"

"I got all that I need but I can't do it by myself," Kagome answered while Sango was eyeing Miroku suspiciously.

"Do the guys need to leave for this, Kagome-chan?" she asked, moving over to try and help Kagome remove her hoodie.

"Iie, I have something underneath that covers fine but still gives access to the bandages."

When the pullover was removed, Kagome was sitting with a tank top on, the straps were about as thick as her pinky nail, thus making it easy to push aside down her arms. Keade, with the straps out of the way, began to unravel the long strip of bandage holding the gauze over the wound. She finished with that quickly and then carefully peeled away the gauze.

Sango gasped, Miroku flinched, Shippou clung even tighter to Kirara, but InuYasha…InuYasha just stared, finally raising his head. The wound was stitched together; the medical thread was easy to make out against the forcefully closed skin. Surrounding that was a wicked bruise, spreading out around eight centimeters in diameter.

"This is what happens," Kagome whispered. "And I'm one of the lucky ones. People have died by the millions because of these weapons…even little children."

"But," InuYasha said, the first words he had voiced in a while, "I thought that your time was safe…"

"There aren't any youkai, at least to my knowledge, but humans create their own weapons of mass destruction. My time is just as dangerous, if not more than this one. The difference is that there are more people when I live, so there are more people dying."

§

InuYasha sat outside, hidden in the foliage of the Goshinboku, after everyone went back to sleep again. He was mulling over the events of the recent past, trying to understand his own feelings in the matter.

The hanyou knew his feelings towards the miko of the future, no matter how much he tried to deny it. However, the unfortunate happenings of what had happened, the mere thought of the chance that she may never come back because something happened in her own time, utterly crushed him. He would die if his love did, especially if he didn't _try_ to save her. _'Baka, I wouldn't have tried because I had no idea she was even in danger.'_ That thought didn't make him feel any better…

§

Kagome walked out of the hut, intending to find the missing InuYasha. It was still fairly dark outside, but she didn't care. When she fell asleep after telling her story, InuYasha seemed troubled and now he wasn't in the hut. Where did he go?

Following her own instinct, she looked up into the trees as she wandered through the forest, trying to find his aura, needing to see the red of his haori. After all of the instability of the past ten days, she was desperate for the feeling she always got when around InuYasha, the security that embraced her even when he didn't.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" she heard InuYasha ask from somewhere in front of her, but was still unable to see him. She walked in that direction and was led to the Goshinboku.

"I'm looking for you," Kagome answered, going up the ancient tree. "Can you come down here please?"

"Feh!" InuYasha exclaimed, but did so anyway. Landing gracefully in front of Kagome, he crossed his arms over his chest, putting up the façade of annoyance. "You should be in the hut," he muttered.

"You weren't in there. I wanted to find you," she explained, stepping up to him. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"You shouldn't be out here," he reprimanded in a somewhat mellow tone. "It's still pretty dark, youkai could have attacked you."

Kagome sat on the ground by the trunk of the tree, resting against the weathered bark. "You seemed…upset before. Just wanted to know if you felt like talking about it, since it's probably about what I said." She watched as InuYasha sighed, uncrossed his arms, and took a seat beside her. "Will you talk to me?"

"I always got the impression that your time was…peaceful, safe, and that you didn't need to be protected there like you need to be here. If I had known that you were in danger there too…" InuYasha wondered off, looking at the ground.

"InuYasha, you couldn't have known that my time was dangerous, you aren't there long enough to see the news and I never told you. This isn't your fault," Kagome tried to console.

"But you still got hurt! I should have been there!" he yelled, looking into her eyes.

Kagome saw the pain that he had hidden before reflecting his amber irises. Raising her left hand to cup his cheek, she said, "You can't blame yourself for what is beyond your control, InuYasha, it'll drive you insane."

"But…"

"No buts InuYasha, you are not to blame for what happened. You didn't have the gun; you didn't shoot me. Now please, just…let me be close to you…I missed you when I was away."

InuYasha sat still, his breath caught, unsure of just what to do. He felt her hand fall from his face, the absence of the warmth easy to recognize. He blinked a few times before carefully pulling her into his arms, avoiding her right shoulder. "I missed you too," he whispered.

They sat in silence, trying to find something to say to each other, but not wanting to ruin the moment. InuYasha felt the strong hunger to just kiss her, a final absolution of knowing she was okay, she would be with him forever, but was afraid that she wouldn't respond in kind. Gathering his courage, he pulled back so that he could look into her eyes, and searched for anything like resistance within them. Finding none, he gently touched his lips to hers.

Kagome was amazed; shocked so much that she found that she couldn't move no matter how badly she wished it. Before she was ready, InuYasha moved away, dejection clear in his eyes as he stood up and made to walk away. She was about to question him when she realized she already knew the answer. She didn't respond, he thought that she…oh Kami-sama, how wrong he was.

"InuYasha, wait!" she called, unwittingly raising her right arm to try and reach him. Kagome's breath hitched at the pain that throbbed through her body.

"Kagome," InuYasha murmured under his breath, going back to her side, despite his feeling to flee. Kagome took deep breaths to calm herself and let the pain leave. She was grateful that InuYasha was still here, and at such a close proximity.

She quickly glanced up to see where she would be aiming and kissed him, returning his earlier one. When he didn't react, Kagome pulled back and saw his stunned expression. "See, it's easy to get surprised into mobility," she said while laughing lightly.

InuYasha blinked and shook his head to clear it of the daze that settled. He gave her his infamous smirk. "Care to try again?" At her nod, he swooped in on her lips again.

Damn, kisses are so much better when they are returned. A tingle swept through her spine at the contact, unparallel to anything she had experienced before. Sure, she had kissed him before, but that was to save him, and it was more like she kissed his teeth, at least on the first attempt. After that, he kissed her, but that felt more like a "thank you for saving my soul" kind of thing. This, oh this was so much better than anything else.

The chaste kiss grew into something both of them didn't realize at first, but held no objections to. When InuYasha tapped his tongue to her lips, Kagome immediate gave him entrance. The tingle shot up her body, making her bend her neck back, serving to give InuYasha more mobility. He greedily took advantage of this.

All to quickly, Kagome felt the need to breathe, but it didn't really hinder InuYasha in his will to continue. He traveled down her neck, tracing her pulse-point with his tongue. "I love you," he whispered, quickly kissing her neck, hiding his face there.

"I love you, too," she replied, petting his ears in affection.

§

Kagome sighed as she walked back into school, she had stayed in the Sengoku Jidai for a month, with the few exceptions of visiting the doctor here to have her wound examined. She came back here with perfect health…and InuYasha. He had insisted on escorting her just about everywhere she went, unwilling to let her get hurt again, so he had somehow managed to convince her to allow him to go without "going" (translating to "I don't want to do any of this 'homework' you complain about so much"…lazy…). In turn, she and her mother managed to talk the school into letting InuYasha follow her around (of course, they didn't use the fact that Kagome was _shot_ against them…no…okay, maybe just a small reminder).

Getting InuYasha into some modern clothes had been an adventure in itself. Not to go into detail, but it involved a pair of slightly too tight pants, a something shining on the floor, and a group of giggling girls that just happened to walk by. But now, he was standing by her side in a pair of somewhat baggy pants and a red wife-beater with a black jacket. His silver hair was pulled back and he had the red and blue baseball cap he usually had on place over his head, hiding his (really cute doggy) ears from sight. His eyes couldn't be helped, but they could say that he wore colored contacts.

Kagome made it to her locker, gathered her books, put them in her book bag, and was about to put them on her shoulder when InuYasha took it from her and placed them on his instead. She smiles in gratitude, hugging him quickly before taking his hand in her own, lacing their fingers together.

As she walked to homeroom, Kagome paused to look at a scene that was starting at the end of the hall to her left. A scrawny boy was being pushed into the corner, harassed by three brutes. InuYasha paused as well, watching the scene carefully. "This is bullying?"

"One form of it," Kagome answered, not really paying attention as she watched the books of the smaller boy fall to the floor. "It can get a lot worse."

"What's its purpose?" InuYasha asked, finding it repulsive.

"I think it's to show power." Kagome shook her head, loosening her hand from his and stepping forward. "This is disgusting. After all that had already happened because of bullying, here they are doing it anyway." She ran ahead to assist the boy, InuYasha following close behind.

Just as the three boys were opening a locker, Kagome stepped up and shut it. "What did you do that for?!" one of them exclaimed, advancing on her. Before he could make it two steps, he was thrown into a wall, rather gently in the eyes of the thrower.

InuYasha glared at the boy and stood next to Kagome. Kagome folded her arms aver her chest; much like her love tends to do. "I'm doing it for Kodoku," she declared, standing in front of the victim.

"Kodoku? Isn't it that kid that brought the gun to school and shot that girl?" another asked, staring at InuYasha in apprehension.

"Yes," Kagome answered. "He was bullied, much like this kid here."

"What? You think that you can stop us like that shot chic?" the third challenged. "What was her name again?"

Kagome pulled back her shirt collar, showing the scar that remained and the bullet hanging on the chain. "Her name was Kagome."

§

InuYasha watched his love turn and help the other boy up, giving him his books and watched him walk away in the other direction, thanking her. He turned to see Kagome with her head against the wall. "What's wrong, koi?" He could see the sadness in her eyes even though she smiled a bit.

"It all feels like it was for nothing," she whispered as he sat down against the wall, dragging her with him, into his lap. "After everything that transpired, nothing really changed."

"Change takes time, Kag," he replied. "It certainly took a while to get used to being around so many people for me. Give it more time, and keep on doing what you did. You're the one who will lead the change; it's just that you haven't been here for so long, some idiots have forgotten it. But those bakas who just ran away, I don't think that they'll ever forget it."

Kagome smiled at him as the warning bell rung throughout the school. "Arigotou, InuYasha. Let's get to homeroom." With that, she kissed his cheek and stood, waiting for him. Standing as well, InuYasha laced their fingers again and let her lead them to the "homeroom".

§

**A/N: So, did you like it? If so, click the button in the left hand corner and tell me so. Love ya!**


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